Five Questions: McCready, Quinlan preview the Egg Bowl

No. 8 Ole Miss and Mississippi State square off Thursday night in Starkville in the annual Egg Bowl.

The Rebels (9-2 overall, 5-2 in the Southeastern Conference) can clinch the first 10-win regular season in program history and wrap up a New Year's Six bowl game.

Mississippi State (7-4, 4-3) can play spoiler while also improving their bowl positioning with a win.

The game kicks off at 6:30 p.m. and will be televised by ESPN.

RebelGrove.com's Neal McCready and BulldogBlitz.com's Kelly Quinlan exchanged questions and answers to preview Thursday's game.

Kelly Quinlan: 1. How are fans viewing this game between two of the most interesting coaches in all of college football and what is the take of the Rebs fan base on Leach overall?

Neal McCready: Oh, I think, in general, Ole Miss fans like Leach. He’s funny. He, like Kiffin, have helped to take some of the nastiness out of the rivalry. That would change, I suppose, with a loss Thursday, but I have never sensed any animosity towards Leach. I think everyone respects his offensive system, his mind and his adherence to a scheme that hasn’t really had to evolve over the years. Obviously, everyone has seen how effective the Bulldogs and Will Rogers have been during the stretch run of this season.

Kelly Quinlan: 2. What are the strengths and weaknesses of this Ole Miss squad this year and how has the team changed or adapted from where they started to get into the top 10?

Neal McCready: Ole Miss’ strengths are quarterback play, a three-headed running back attack, the tempo employed by Kiffin and Jeff Lebby, Sam Williams’ presence off the edge, consistent linebacker play from Chance Campbell and Mark Robinson and strong safety play from A.J. Finley, Jake Springer and Co. The weaknesses are an overall lack of depth, a lack of girth on the interior on defense and the lack of a deep-ball threat in the wake of injuries to the starting wide receivers.

Matt Corral has willed this team to wins over Arkansas and Tennessee, overcome injuries to the offense in leading his teammates to wins over LSU and Texas A&M and now positioned the Rebels to get to 10 wins in a regular season for the first time in program history.

Defensively, the Rebels have become more of a consistent unit, pressuring the quarterback, causing turnovers and finding ways to cover for an offense that seems to be running out of gas as the season progresses.

Kelly Quinlan: 3. Defensively what is the identity of this defense, what do they do well and who are the key playmakers on that side of the ball?

Neal McCready: The identity is bend but don’t break, get to the quarterback, cause turnovers and make big plays on third down. Williams and Cedric Johnson have emerged as presences off the edge, Campbell and Robinson are solid linebackers, Springer is a physical presence in the secondary and Deane Leonard and Deantre Prince are beginning to exert their will as playmakers at cornerback.

Can Ole Miss tackle well and keep Mississippi State’s receivers in front of them after the catch Thursday night? That’s the key. We’ll find out, as the Bulldogs will certainly test the Rebels.

Kelly Quinlan: 4. With the Rebels offense it starts with Matt Corral but who are the other key playmakers and what does the offense do well this year scheme wise?

Neal McCready: Jerrion Ealy is a playmaker at tailback. When he’s on, the Rebels are very explosive. Snoop Conner is a very good interior runner who can punish defenses. If he’s healthy, Braylon Sanders can take the top off a defense, and defenses must account for Dontario Drummond at all times.

Ole Miss’ best weapon, besides Corral, is tempo. The Rebels are best when they go fast. It prevents substitutions, creates fatigue and takes advantage of a lack of time to communicate. Ole Miss tends to bog down in the red zone from a tempo perspective, and as of late, the lack of a consistent run game close to the goal line has been an issue.

Kelly Quinlan: 5. How do you see this playing out and a prediction would be great?

Neal McCready: I think it’s a great game, a potential classic. I think it’s in the low 30s/high 20s, and my bet is it’s decided late. I’m picking Ole Miss by a single point, based strictly on a belief that Corral is due a special night. I’ll say Ole Miss 31, Mississippi State 30.

Neal McCready: 1. Lane Kiffin has made Ole Miss nationally relevant in just two seasons. How do you sense Mississippi State feels about what Kiffin and Co. have accomplished in Oxford?

Kelly Quinlan: I think there was a lot of frustration coming off the 2020 season with how the team played and even early in the season with games like LaTech, Memphis and LSU, the Bulldogs looked a little wobbly, but Leach got things turned around with three upsets of top 20 teams this year. I think there was an understanding of a bit of a learning curve with the offense and general curiosity about how it would work in the SEC as well.

In regards to comparing with Ole Miss I think there is some annoyance that State didn't take care of business earlier in the season and avoid the non-Bama losses this year. I think everyone is enjoying having two of the more outspoken coaches in the game and Leach fits their narrative of the outsider coach like Jackie Sherrill and Kiffin is sort of the slick embodiment of many of the things they dislike about the Rebels and Oxford culture. I think that makes for a fun rivalry moving forward.

Neal McCready: 2. This time a year ago, people around the SEC were questioning whether Mike Leach's Air Raid could work in the SEC. It works, obviously. What happened?

Kelly Quinlan: It all comes down to the quarterback. Last year they tried to insert KJ Costello via the portal and he was not good and struggled and then they turned to Will Rogers who was taking his lumps learning the system as a freshman in the toughest conference in all of college football and you just don't see many freshmen quarterbacks light up the SEC. Rogers taking those lumps last year paid off and around midseason, he really started to his stride. When they protect him well and he gets the ball out he is very effective and efficient running the offense. They still don't quite have the pieces they would like at receiver yet or on the offensive line especially at right tackle, but it is getting better and they look sharper every week.

Neal McCready: 3. What's the best way to get Will Rogers out of rhythm? Is it pressure, mixing up defenses, taking away the deep ball and tackling well or what?

Kelly Quinlan: You cannot just sit back and play coverage, he will pick you apart to death and they do a great job of using the running backs in that situation on dump routes to move the sticks like extended running plays. The only time Rogers really struggles is under pressure from the blitz or just a stout pass rush and he has only had pressure nine times this season when teams do not blitz. He has thrown three interceptions in 64 attempts against pressure compared to five in 507 pass attempts without pressure and his completion percent drops about 25-percent against pressure. You cannot play a passive zone scheme against the Air Raid, you have to line up and play man-to-man and bring pressure or gamble with pressure some an aggressive zone underneath. They don't throw it deep a ton either, only 43 attempts of +20 yards.

Neal McCready: 4. Mississippi State's defense has been solid, but not dominant, this season? What's the best way to attack it and how do you feel it will handle Ole Miss' tempo?

Kelly Quinlan: Mississippi State is top 10 in the country in run defense and they have really held most teams in check on that end, but they have been exposed more in the passing game when they cannot get pressure on the quarterback. That is how Alabama got them with explosives in the passing game and the defense actually yields a high yards per pass attempted average as well, but they are good at getting takeaways as well to balance out some of the explosive players the secondary gives up. That is what the matchup may come down to, State stopping Ole Miss's passing attack and getting some takeaways. I don't see this as a 13-10 type game, both teams are too good on offense for that. They have faced plenty of tempo teams this year so I don't think it will be a huge issue, Zach Arnett is not a big sub guy so they stay with the base personnel a lot except on the DL, so that makes it easier than other teams that try to rotate 9-10 guys in on D.

Neal McCready: 5. How do you see the game playing out? Who wins?

Kelly Quinlan: I'm expecting a much more high-scoring game than a year ago and that was not exactly a low-scoring affair. I think State has the edge defensively and I think the offenses are both capable of putting up points so at home I give a slight edge to the Bulldogs say 38-34 but that could reverse. I think both teams are similar in strengths and weaknesses as well, but I always lean on the home team in a rivalry game when things seem equal. Obviously, it would be an upset win for State in my scenario, but I think Ole Miss is very capable of winning this as well.